TVR drops plant to resume production

The plan to resume production of the TVR sports car has been dropped by owner Nikolai Smolensky, a Russian investor who is based in Vienna. For many years, numerous TVR prototypes have been built but Smolensky now admits that the sports car project can no longer be viable due to high costs and customer demands. He said that he will be transferring the name to a new venture that produces portable wind turbines. In 2004, Smolensky purchased the Blackpool-based company for £15 million, according to rumors. Its operations were unsteady until it had to stop production at the end of 2006.

Operations shifted to Austria over challenges with retrenchments and assets sale. In Austria, Smolensky was able to build three prototypes, making him optimistic that he could bring TVR to the modern era. These prototypes are: a Tuscan Mk2 convertible that had a 400bhp Corvette LS3 engine, a Cerbera that had a BMW twin-turbo V8 diesel, and a GT350 with a 100kW electric motor. He claims that all of them worked well but then, the costs to make them had been too high and they would have to be priced between £100,000 and £200,000, which didn’t make sense.

Smolensky shared that he once entertained the idea of entering a deal with Caterham Cars to get support for a manufacturing operation. The problem was that he didn’t have confidence that the cars would sell well. Those who already have the TVR car don’t have to worry about spare parts since they would still be available at Performance Engines, Racing Green and TVR Power. For now, Smolensky doesn’t plan to sell the TVR name but he is open to proposals. [source: Autocar]